Pen



ocr. 26, 1943. E F, ALSTROM, JR 2,332,771

PEN

Filed Dec. 1, 1941 1 /Q 4Z 64I 66 65 65 576.75 '5f/6015556 .5350 l l I6INVENTOR.

Patented Oct. 26, 1943 *l UNITED" s`TA'11a1sparigzfi'SiI'iy o'FFiCEfThis invention relates to a newv writing instrument. More particularly,it relates `to an improved pen adapted to receive and hold a smallquantity of ink.

The variety of fountain pens known in the art may for present purposesbe divided Vup into two groups. One of these groups includes fountainare 'provided with the same sort of filling means.

Although numerous types of filling means are known, these have beendeveloped in substany BEN Ernest F. Alstrom, Jr., Cicero, Ill.Application December 1, 1941, Serial No. 421,132 1 I tained WhOllyWithinY a chamber havingV rigid walls. i

C iother'objects Willappear hereinafter.

tially everycase for use in pens of the first' class mentioned above,namely, those which-are fin-` tended to'be carried about from place toplace.

Whateverthe purpose may have been, however, these filling means are ingeneral much better vadapted for pens which are" to be ycarried about'from place to place since all of these various `filling means are soconstructed and arranged as "to be diicultly accessible, the obviouspurpose being, of course, to prevent accidental discharge l provide apenadapted to contain a quantity of ink and having readily accessiblefilling means.

j4`"A more specic object is to provide a pen adapted to be used in oneplace and having readily accessible means for drawing a small body ofinkintothe pen whichjzis thereafter delivered to the pen point as necessaryduring writing. Y

Another object is to provide a .fountain pen of the self-llingtype,rhaving the lling means located adjacent the pen point.. y

Still another object is `to Aprovide a fountain pen of the self-fillingtype, which may 'beY filled entirely with one hand simply by `shiftingthe grip on the pen a short distance from the normal writing position.:V L

A still-*further object is to provide a fountain pen havinga minimum ofchambers and passages therein through which or into which ink DaSSeS.

ofthe self-filling type, in which theink-'is con#- -ing downwardlyoroutwardly from the closed inl It-has now been found that these`objects may be accomplished by'providing a pen such Aas thatillustrated iny the accompanying drawing, `in which .Y .Y ,Y ,Y iFigure-1 `is aview in perspective'of a pen ernbodying features of thepresent invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged detailed LView `of `the lower end of `thepenshown 'in' Figure 1, 'partly in section, through the center; l

Figure 3 isfa View in perspective, illustrating the manner in Whichthepen shownin Figures 1 and` '2is`filled; f 1 Figurefl is 'an explodedView inperspective of the vpen illustrated in Figures 1 and 2; Figure'5is a View similar to Figure 2, illustrating another embodimentof theinvention;l

Figure 6 isf'a viewin perspective of a portion of apen, illustratingstill another embodiment of the invention; Figure 7'is a view, partlyinsection, of the lower end of a pen, illustrating theposition ofthe inkvsupply when the pen is inverted; y f Figure 8 is an enlargedvsection?ori'the line 8 8 in Figure 6; and i "Q Figure 9v isa viewsimilarito Figure 8, taken during -the flling operation. n

Referring now more particularly to Figures 1, 2 and 4,'it will be' seenthat a pen, designated gen# erally Il), i'sy shown which includes`ast`e1n I2,A`an

intermediate ilexible portion I4, andfaib'arrel I6. A chamber ISgisformedjcentrally in the lower end offbarrel IGand receives in its openlower end the usual feed bar v20 andpen point v22L These latter maybeoffany desired type. Eirtendner or upper vend of chamber I8 is a rod24 which terminates about midway lengthwise of Y -the chamber I8.Extending through rod`24 to the inner or upper end of barrell I6 is jasmall chan# y neizs.

UAs is bestseen in Figure" 2, annular grooves 2s `and 3l! are providedon stem""-I`2Mand barrel4 I6'to flexiblemember I4.- An air-tight seal isprovided between the flexible member I4 and the stemV I2 and Valsobetween the flexible member I4 andfthe barrelIS, thereby providing achamber 32 which isV air-*tight except? forA the opening" provided by'the'lchnnelZsjQA rod 34 of reduced diameter is formed on the innerendof the stemIZ and exutends downwardly in the chamber 32; terminatingadjacent'theinner end of barrel I 6.v Ihe body or upper portion of thestem I2 may be of any desired shape, it being shown herein as a rod ofgradually decreasing diameter from the inner end outwardly.

The pen I is operated, as shown in Figure 3, by immersing the lower endin a body of ink 36 in a container 38 and pressing the walls of theexible member I4 inwardly with two ngers 40 and 42, for example, fromthe position shown by the dotted,..lines.- 44-130. that shownby thesolid lines, and then releasing the pressure.y lAs may best be seen inFigure 2, when the opposite sides of the flexible member I4 are pressedinwardly, the volume of chamber 32 is reduced, thus foreing airoutwardly rthrough the channel into chamber I8 and thence outwardlythrough the feed bar 2B and the pen point 22;

inzFigure'S, increasing. the .volume Vof chamber. 32 and thus reducingthe pressure within the pen? I il. Atmospheric.y pressure operating onthe bodyi of ink 36.. thereupon forces:` a; small i quantity of.; ink

`throughzthefeed bar-2.0i andpeni22 intochamber Thereafter, when thepressure von the"l sides. of the` flexible member I4 is released, thesespring backto their.Y `normal position illustrated by the dottedlines44v` .themOVementH-of the wallsA of-jilexibleqmember I I 4 by meansof rod34fso; .that the quantity of; air expelled,when the; walls-J4yarepushed jin-against rodi- 341is=less=than the; Volume of chamber I 8below the lower end of the rod 24, whereby when the.l penis a vertical,position,` as -1 shown in Figureithefupper level of the full charge-ofink in chamber JIS. `lies below' the loWerend-of rodlfl. sI-hispreventsinlr frombeingdrawn up. through channel 26 `during thelling operation. In o rder to prevent `inkzfromiindingits way.` intochannel 26 during handling orfuseqofthe pen, therod 24 is provided.y Asmay be seen. in,Figure '7,l the charnb.e1 '.:i8,L is-.maclelsuiiiclclltly` large-and the i rodf24 isgrextendeddownwardly therein fora sufcientvdistance so; that whenrthe, pen IIl-isyup ended,. as. shownVin .Eigure, a full: charge of, ink 41h-will have? its upper level.belowthefendof ,the rod 2.4; Ithas been found actual practice thatthis.-constructi on ccnnplete-ly-` preyentsftheink from;- working fits:Aany;substantial distance -into the. channel 2.6. v

i In the embodiment'shown in'IEigrures A1*,2 "ande, the flexible-memberI 4-.which, as is apparentfrom the above` description, ,iss also.resilient, is preferably formed of a material which'has al considerable;degreeoff; resi-stance` teg flexing; -parvticularlyasrespectsiorceapplieddengitudinally `of.the...tubu1ar member. I 4. vlf`themernber I4is formed-ofsuch a; rigid, ,but at; theY same `time vre,-silient. and. flexible,` materiali, the stern L2, can-.not,fread-ily.belZ bent with respecttothe:barrel- I Gand-'.thefilexible. Imer'nberf` I4will .itself-1provide an .adecuia-teAconnection between.l the. stem r I 2- and ,thel loarrel i161, suitable..nexiblej andn resilient material, which islelso n'elatwelyrigid-issfCellu- .loidl QBens consti-ucted.` asfshQW-n Figures-. 1, 2

.4; finwhichjthenexible member I4. isA formed into chamber 352. or evenlFigure '9;illustraltes the.

member I'fwhe'n the front. andejar. sideslfklr of,

00 as shown in'Figure 6, are pressed i'nw'a'r for y corresponding torod-'34", serves ass'toy kSome mention has been made* above offsuitofrelatively thin Celluloid, have been found to function quitesatisfactorily, and it has been found that the Celluloid provides asufficiently rigid connection between the stem I2 and barrel ,A

I6 so that other connection is not necessary. The pen 43, illustrated inFigure 5, is generally similar to pen lf3 and includes a stem 50, a Yresilient, flexible, cylindrical lmember 52, and a.,

barrel 54. One important difference` between pens -IU `and 48.,.isthatthe. ilexibleand resilienty member .52 is fformedfoutvof a`relatively non-V rigid material, such as a rubber composition.

The member 52 is secured in air-tight relation to the stem 5U and thebarrel 54 in the same vmanner that the flexible memberv I4 issecured vto stem I2 and barrel I6 but, in order to provide greaterrigiditybetween stem 5!! and barrel 54,`

, `apintjis,providedwhich is imbedded centrally theinner end of the stemand rigidly secured' thereto, as at 5B. Pin 5,6 extends down,

.wardly from the stern 50 Ithrough.theiclqiarnber 6G, lthrough acentral:-openingffGZfin bari and into chamberv 6 4., whichcorrespondschamber I3 in barrel I6. The-ping56;@VA vrigidly securedlrin'V the brrel 54; andgserves" to give rigidity., tog-the penstructure148-.,A The@ lower end, 5t; orrodt fserves-I the lsame.purposeias the 'rod 214 inpen IE., A small-'channel 6, 81 extendscentrally through thepin .5,6 yf1om fthe lowerpend upwardly vto aYpointwithin.. the, chamber; W

andA thence-,Opensutwardlyfatz;diametrcallyeoneposite points into fthechamber, 61h, ,I 'Ihis channel 68 servesjthesamepurposeasfehannel526,.',providg 1 ing connection .between chamberandjehamber 64'- Thefpin'- 5;@ isstillzfur'her. deSieneds-tofserre as astopfory theewalls ofthe `flexible memberf .52 f f in. thesame.,manner.Y as.- rod `34.clcgesyin penlr.. j The. @serai/i011; @tren4814s the sameras..-thatl.0f

penlil andldoesfnot requir further description. i v Salmone andinas,tratedy in Figures 6,- 8 and,` i 4trated Eieure.; includes@stenalz'rrespend ingselerallr is Siem I han@ e'bafrl* Spendinggenerally. to; barrel .16 @The .sisme menib@lG-fpgsiiienedfbetweemstmiandnar; 1

exiblel member .1.8, shapedl asindicated inl. Fig,-

somewhat *easier topress inwardly an .1s-some what less liable to crackthanl is t ,',gzexible member` III-l which. is@generally-. cylindrcalyin shape. The design vofftlfle:vflex'ib merriber- 18 is particularly...suitable Where; this-.membe is formed ofI anexible, resilient material.Wl'iiehhs considerable rigidity, such,y for. eira.mple,1V as. Cel;- A.

luloid, mentioned above...

also illustrates the manner in which the' rodf'lli,

able flexible'materials from"'-iivlii'clr4 tol construct themem'ber'sI4;"52 andfTGi-Itdstoibo under*- stood, however, that thesea-r'emerely/"illustrative invention. Members I4, 52fand'16imaf'y and are'notintended tolimitithelscope`offltlie f ".con'- Structed ofany/desired* materialf.which?.hasfthev Anecessary resilienceand;.flexibility@` 'The fact that these partsfdonot comeimcontactwith-Ltle ink makes it unnecessary toselect materialsffor theirconstructionwh-ich areiinertwitlrrespect to '.Preierablypbutfriet:inecessanlymheyrba- 14 corref extending inthe chamber; enclosedbymembers I4, 52 and 16 will be .rigijd'with both the stem and barrelwhere the resilient, flexible material does not also ihaveconsiderablerigidity;

Referring more particularly to `pens I U and l0, it will be understoodthatgthe' rods 34 and I8 may extendu'pwardly from 'the barrel instead ofdownwardly from the stemaszshown, the` rods 34 and 18 beingmountedonthe,Stem merely for the sake of conveniencefin construction,

`The passages. or channels 25 and mayvary somewhat in diameter. but are"preferably kept relativelysmall since they are .intended only topass'airand since, in particular it is desired to avoidhavinginklenter'these passages.- By Way of illustratiom it-may .bementioned that pens have been constructed in which these openings havediameters of the order of 1&2 to 1/4 of an inch. `Such pens performentirely satisfactory but it is contemplated that these openings mayVhave both largerand smaller dameters,fif de- Ysired.

In pen Ill-the rod 34 Yispreferablyjformed integral with stem I2. l Itmay, however, be formed separately and suitably securedthereto. Also,the rod 24 is preferably. formed integralA With-'the barrel I6 but itmay likewise' be,A formed separatelyand suitably securedy in the barrelI6. In contrast,4 the pin 56 `in lpen 48 is `formed separately,`asillustrated; 'from either the stem 50 l or the barrel 54. It will beunderstood, however, that the pin 56 may be integral with either thebarrel 50 or the stem 54, being suitably secured to the other member, ifdesired, in assembling the pen. The member 56 will, ofcourse, serve f togive substantial rigidity to the pen 48 if it is v merely secured eitherto the stem 50 or to the barrel 54, and then merely inserted in theother of the latter two members, and still more rigidity when secured inor to both members.

Both the stem and barrel of any of pens I0, 48 and 'IIJ may be formed ofany desired material, for example, wood or any of the plastic materialsfrom which fountain pen barrels are now made. To provide variety inconstruction and a more pleasing appearance, the stem may also be formedof one material and the barrel of another. Still another variation inconstruction consists in providing a transparent window about the lowerend of the lower chamber, illustrated by chambers I8 and 64,whereby thequantity of ink within the pen may be readily seen. Many othervariations in construction within the spirit of this invention will bereadily apparent to those skilled in the art.

Some of the advantages of the present invention are suggested by theabove description. One ofthe more outstanding of the advantages is theease and facility with which the pen may be lled.` As is indicated byFigure 3, the position occupied by the fingers during the fillingoperation is substantially identical with that which they occupy inwriting and they are removed only a short distance from the positionwhich they` occupy in gripping the pen for writing.

Another related advantage is that the filling means are very easilyaccessible and do not require the removal of any parts in order to getat them. They likewise do not require the pulling down of a lever inorder to accomplish the filling operation nor do they involve acomplicated plunger construction. In addition, the usual rubber bulb iscompletely eliminated. and the portions of the pen through which the inkpasses and with which it'comes into contact are materially reduced innumber. In any pen structure the ink,1of course, necessarily comes intocontact `with `the feed bar and thepoint. lIn the present structure; theonly other part of the pen with which the ink"` is in contact is thechamber in the lower end of the barrel. Except for the small capillarymeans in .thefeed bar adjacent the pen point, the ink doesnot passthrough any other small openings. This greatlyreduces the diculty due toclogging ofthe pen by reason of the use of poor grade inks or longdisuse ofthe pen itself. l

Still a further advantage is kth'e great simplicity in the constructionof the'pen. generally. 'I'he greater proportion of the parts ofthe pen.can

Y For desk use alarge volume is obviously unnecescated interiorly ofsaid pen comprising two sep-` sary since a fresh supply of inkis usuallyreadily available. `On the other hand, fivel dropsA of ink is arelatively large supply compared with pens which are not of the fountaint'ype. It has been found, for example, that as many as two thousandwords or more may be written with one' charge, containing about livedrops, as measured by dropping the ink offtheendofthe pen. l 1

Stillfother advantages will 'appear Vfrom -the foregoing description.

It is apparent that many widely different embodiments of this inventionmay be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof,

and therefore it is not intended to be limited except as indicated inthe appended claims.

The invention is herebyv claimed as follows:

1. A pen having a writing point, a space loarate chambers connected by apassageway of relatively small diameter opening into the lower of saidchambers at a point adjacent the middle of said chamber lengthwise ofthe pen, capillary `means providing communication between the lower ofsaid two chambers and said writing point, `for feeding ink to saidwriting point, said space being air-tight except for said capillarymeans, and the upper chamber being enclosed, at least in part, by aexible wall portion which also forms a part of the outer wall of saidpen.

2. A pen having a barrel, a stem, a writing point mounted in one end ofsaid barrel, and a flexible wall portion extending between the other endof -said barrel and said stem and formingr a part of the outer-,wall ofsaidpen, a chamber formed within said barrel adjacent said point andconnected thereto by capillary means, for feeding ink from said chamberto said point, a passageway of relatively small diameter extending froma point adjacent the middle of said chamber lengthwise of the pen,upwardly through Y of said chambers `at a point adjacent the middleV ofsaid chamber lengthwise of the pen, capillary means providingcommunication between the lower of said twoohambers and said Writingpoint,l

for feeding ink tof said writirig pointgsadf space being ain-tight!Aexcept 'for said capillary means, the upper chanfib'erfbeingfenclosed,`atleast in part', ailexible welll-portion whicli'a'lso' forms a vpartofthe outer wall of said pem'andfsaid two cham'-` bersbeingproportionedwithrespectto each other soi Athatntlie' maximum .quantityo-f ink which.. can bev drawnIk into theflowerof saidf chambersbyflexing the wallof'rthe upper chamber` once has ai volume lessthanzha'lf that ofthe/lower cham ber being enclosed, at least inpart,.by.a iexible wall portion which also vforms aA part of theouterfwall of said-pen; and vsaid twoI chambers being proportioned withrespect to each other so that the maximum quantity of ink which canfbedrawn'irito the lowerof said chambersby. flexing the Wall of the-:upperchamberoncehas avolume less `than -halfk that of theilow'er chamber andt draws acharge'o'f inktiintozsaid" lower-f' chamber iesstnantnevomme'of thenwercnambeeabavethey point wheresaidpassageway opensfinte the lowerchamberi" 5. A penihavingia: barrelwithfaniopening': eX.-y

tending longitudinally .therethrough',g saidopen-4 Jing being ofrelatively `smalltdian'ieter;in` the iupper end of lthe barrel andhaving-ia; relaidv'elylargeidi ameter inr thelower 'end .wherebytoprovidefa chamber, Va writingI pointt andafeedgbaii'gsecured in thelower end-Loffsaidfrchamber:including capillary` means foi:ieeding'inkvfrom said cha'mber:A to sad-t-point, a stemA positionedabovefffsvaid barrel, a relatively rigid, flexible wall'ipor'tionfpo-Vsitioned` between vsaid'barrerandsaid stemfand forming a: part vofr theouter;wall/of said pen,. said flexiblewall portion fenclosinga`sec'ondcham'- berV into .which the: openingy inwsaid; barrel; opens'and ink which `a `stop :member-for 4said exibl'e Wall portion,extends', vvsaid,A two chambersz'and) connectingypassageway beingair-tightexceptrfor said'capil'lary"means'the smallA openingA in saidbarrel opening into the lowerl chamberiadjacent 1 the middle ythereoflengthwise fof .A the.- pen,

.and saidfchambers beingproportioned wthre'- speci; to eachE other sothat-fthe maximum` fleureV ing of said `flexible-wall as :determinedbysaid stop which has a volume Jless than! that 'ofeither-the portion -ofVvthe lowerl` chamber: `below/.I the lower vend of? said'fsmall' openingcrtl'xatz-thereabove;iy

